Look Who Moved to Phoenixville From Sesame Street

One of my walks with Pablo takes me past a charming Victorian house with a deep wrap-around front porch. Sigh. Until recently I never noticed that the back garage was occupied. Bert and Ernie of Sesame Street fame reside on the top floor. Apparently they’re Phillies fans as well. Who knew?

Dogwood Festival, Phoenixville Style

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Last week was a busy one for Phoenixville residents. Our town had its annual Dogwood Festival and the park where it’s held is just a hop, skip, and jump away. As newbies to the area, K and I strolled over one night to take a gander. Unfortunately, the weather was drippy during the first half of the week, but then the skies cleared. On Saturday a big parade was held, the end destination a block away from our place. I caught the tail end of it (my daughter’s graduation was that weekend as was K’s). Next year we hope to be there early and see the whole parade.

While Pablo didn’t get to visit the festival (dogs weren’t allowed), he did enjoy scouring the site afterwards, sniffing for leftover funnel cake bits and other goodies.

Miss Rita Poses for Her Picture

Chapter One: In Which the Cats Discover the Backyard Bunny

Although Ms. Flopsy regularly visits our backyard, the cats hadn’t spotted her–until yesterday. Usually she grazes over by the garage, but she decided to come right up to the house (in the photo she’s between Rita and OC’s heads). The cats didn’t know what to make of her–was she an unusually shaped feline, an overgrown mouse? Wait till they meet the humongous groundhog that sometimes stops by.

Comrade Pug

Look who’s gracing the cover of Christopher Buckley’s latest novel! Well, the pug is an ancient Chinese breed. Here’s a short review from Booklist:

In his latest novel of bull’s-eye political satire, Buckley (Supreme Courtship, 2008) skewers our adversarial yet symbiotic relationship with China, along with the corruption endemic to lobbying, weapons manufacturing, and media spin. Walter “Bird” McIntyre, lobbyist for an aerospace behemoth, is instructed to “whip up . . . anti-Chinese fervor” to help secure government funding for a new secret weapon. Hapless and endearing, Bird divides his time between the condo he calls the Military-Industrial Duplex and the country estate he dubbed Upkeep, home to his equestrian wife, Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother, and freeloading brother Bewks, a Civil War reenactor, while writing egregiously clichéd thrillers. Bring on sexy-scary hawk and neocon Angel Templeton, and Bird is in more trouble than he concocts for his tough-guy heroes. Vicious confrontations break out on Chris Matthews’ Hardball, the Dalai Lama is in peril, and the eminently reasonable president of China can talk with his trusted aide only in the bathroom with the water running full blast to foil their enemies’ listening devices. Buckley balances bayonet humor and tenderness in this canny and diverting send-up. –Donna Seaman